


And The Fog Thickens

by Niko_Niko_Neek



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series), Vocaloid
Genre: Descriptions of dysphoria, F/M, Gore, Horror, Psycological Horror, Torture, Trauma, trans len
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:14:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21740779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niko_Niko_Neek/pseuds/Niko_Niko_Neek
Summary: Miku has been missing for five days, and with nothing but a scattered voicemail and the name of a town to go by, Len and his childhood friend Rin begin the search. It isn't long, however, before the both of them realize that the town itself has very different plans in mind.
Relationships: Kagamine Len/Kagamine Rin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Load New Save File.

The air is far too cold for mid-autumn.

The weather had remained consistent the duration of the time he and Rin had been driving-cold, but clear. Sunny but frigid-that was the typical fall weather for the area. It had to be around mid-afternoon when the fog settled in, and it settled in thick, forcing him to turn on the foglights. The radio, upon approach, ahd crackled and lapsed into static, prompting a small frown from Len, though Rin was more than happy to claim ownership over the aux chord.

“Miku’s going retro for the vacation this year, huh?” Rin’s bow is crumpled at the corner as she leans her head against the window, eyes searching the landscape-probably for any sign of a shopping mall. “I don’t even think there’s a gas station out here. Are you sure you didn’t take a wrong turn?”

Len is never one to admit to her when he’s wrong, but his confidence is dwindling with each mile travelled. “I might’ve.” Rin, to her credit, doesn’t pester or gloat. He only hears the quiet rustle of the road map beside him as she checks it. He frowns and tries to remember when the last time he saw another car on the road was, and is a little disturbed when he can’t remember. It must have been a good hour or so back. The car slows to a crawl, tires crackling on the asphalt. “Miku made it sound like it was a cabin or something, like a vacation home. No way would she pick somewhere without a good hairdresser just a phone call away. Where the hell did we end up?”

“She said Silent Hill, right?” Rin points and, with a glance, he’s able to read those very words printed on a green sign.

“In so many words.” Truthfully, Len had only received a voicemail from Miku on his phone, and reception had been so bad that those were the only words from her that he could make out.

“Fantastic. Really quality place.” The sarcasm in Rin’s voice is biting. “How much you wanna bet there’s a few guys with a banjo sizing us up right now? They’d like you, Len-you’re the twink out of the two of us.”

“I’ve only been on T for a few weeks. Gimme a damn minute.”

“I don’t think that has anything to do with it, Lenny.” Rin snickers. “It’s just what you’re destined for. You’ll be a twink with a deeper voice and a bit more hair.”

“You aren’t funny.”

“You know I only make fun of you with the utmost compassion in my heart, Len. My other half. My little potassium prince. Banana boy.”

Len makes a retching noise, but isn’t all that bothered. Rin can sometimes inadvertently make fun of him for things he’s insecure about, but she usually freaks out worse than he does if she finds that he’s genuinely upset.

The fog, if possible, has thickened. Len can barely see though it as he continues the drive in silence, at least before he fishes out his phone and hands it to Rin. “Play me that message again.”

She complies. It remains the same-static, the occasional burst of Miku’s voice, too short to be understood. It clears up long enough for a few words to be audible. “I’m-Silent Hill-Waiting-Don’t” And then it ends.

It’s a little unsettling, particularly because Miku’s social media presence was always reliable. Had to be, for her PR. All of them were obligated to post something regarding some subject or other once in a while, but Miku’s feed had been dead for days. No response when anyone had tried texting her, either.

“I still think it sounds creepy.” Rin adds, passing his phone back to him.

“Early Halloween thing, maybe.” Len replies, mostly to make her feel better, but it doesn’t sound believable even to him.

There are still no buildings as they drive, and Len frowns, hands still resting on the steering wheel. The further they go, the more he’s convinced that this wasn’t a place Miku would’ve picked. Nothing about it is her style or vibe. Maybe she’d been in some kind of car accident?

“Len?”

But what if it was worse? Miku was famous, someone could get a lot of ransom money if they really wanted.

“Len, ease up on the gas please.”

And if it wasn’t money they were after it would be worse-

“LEN!!”

Rin’s shrill voice snaps him out of his thinking, and he looks up in time to see a figure emerging from the fog. It looks like a person, but Len has just enough time to wonder if people are usually so tall before he jerks the steering-wheel. Rin is grabbing his arm and shrieks out a swear word. The car seems to be moving on it’s own and, for a moment, everything spins.

He looks to his right and has enough time to lock eyes with Rin, who opens her mouth as though to say something.

Then, the car hits stone and all goes black.

“She’s going through a phase. That’s all.”

Len feels sick.

“Jesus, can you not leave the kid alone for five seconds? So she got a hair cut. So what?”

He looks down at the bathroom floor, at the long strands of fair hair that rest at his feet. He can hear them both arguing outside the door.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

He doesn’t have to mean anything.

“It doesn’t have to matter.”

Cold air hits Len’s bare arm as he shifts in bed. His palm grazes the threads of a quilt-actually many quilts, layered on each other. A soft groan leaves him as he realizes how much his head hurts.

“Son of a bitch,” Len mumbles.

“Language.” The unfamilliar voice makes Len jerk his head, which results in a crippling wave of nausea and he groans again. The world spins. He manages to get his bearings long enough not to vomit before his vision focuses on the stranger. He’s an older man, hair almost pure white, but surprisingly well groomed. His clothing is simple but smart-he makes Len think of some of the actors in black and white films.

“For a while there, I wasn’t sure you were going to wake up. You and your friend were banged up pretty bad. I was surprised the two of you could still walk, really.” A warm, supporting hand guides him up into a sitting position, which takes far more effort than Len was expecting. The motion makes the nausea come up again, and Len makes a gagging sound that he supposes cues his savior to bring over a metal bucket.

Up comes lunch.

“You’ll feel better soon. You really will.” The man’s voice is warm, almost fatherly. Len doesn’t feel better at first, but once the worst is over and his breaths begin to deepen, he does.

“My friend-My friend Rin-” He swivels up to look at the man, met with light blue eyes not too unlike his own.

“She’s perfectly alright,” he assures. “In the other room. She was a bit worse off than you were, I’m afraid. Woke up earlier, but went back to sleep soon after. I’ve got her bandaged, so don’t worry.”

Len’s shoulders lose a little of their tension, but he’s far from 100%. At least the pain ebbs from a scream to a whine. His movement seems to be okay, even if he does have to move slow. His seat belt has left a stripe of purple against his fair skin, and there’s a resounding sorness in his chest and back. A raise up reveales a few patches of gause on his right arm, with fingerprint bruises on his left, where Rin had been grabbing him. Very lucky, considering.

“Let me see her.” He wants to sound stern, but his voice is shakey.

“Of course you can.” He stands beside Len to help lift him up. “You have a few bad scratches, but nothing life-threatening.” Len winces when he puts weight on his leg, pain shooting up through his hip.

For all the assurances, Len doesn’t feel that great about his condition. Walking is going to be difficult, and he won’t be moving very fast for a while.

“It’s not far. You can make it.” Len begrudgingly accepts the man’s help as they take the short walk down the hall, to a wooden door. IT stands slightly ajar, and when it’s pushed open, Len lets out a quiet curse.

“Rin..” Len exhales heavily, limping his way over to the bed. His hand rests gently on one bruised arm. Wherever she isn’t bruised, she seems to be cut. She’s covered in quilts the same way he had been, and appears so small in the bed that it makes his chest ache in a way that has little to do with his injuries.

“She was more worried about you, really.”

Len frowns at his companion.

“She practically carried you in here, though you were awake as well. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t remember, both of you were in severe shock. I’m very surprised your head injuries weren’t worse.”

“She’ll be okay, right?” He puts a hand over Rin’s. Her wrist feels swollen, and he hopes nothing was broken.

“Perfectly fine.” The man smiles and begins to guide Len back to the door. “Her arm wasn’t looking too well, so I’d keep an eye on that. Otherwise, she should be right as rain. Len is reluctant to leave, continually glancing over his shoulder where Rin is sleeping, but he eventually leaves the room to be guided to the kitchen. A small green kettle is sitting on the stove, steam issuing from the spout. The house seems old and oddly uninhabited, as though the man didn’t really live there-a few of the picture frames seem grimey and cracked, and a thick layer of dusk is settled on the tables.

“It’s about six in the morning,” the man says, noticing Len studying a broken clock as he sits down at the kitchen table. “You both needed the rest, though it didn’t look like you were sleeping all that well. You were tossing and turning for a few hours there.”

Len gives a fleeting, apologetic smile. The man sits across from him. “Is this...Your house?”

“In a manner of speaking.” The man smiles, taking a seat. “I don’t live here, but my father used to. He passed recently, and left me his estate, which I then came here to collect. Not that there’s too much, I’m afraid.” He frowns, glancing at the place. “I plan to sell it if I can, and then go back home. There’s a few people relying on me to get back. Unfortunately, I don’t know a single soul who would really want to live here nowadays.

Len stares off out of the window, the outside still obscured by fog. He’s only half listening. His mind is too fixated on all the injuries he’d seen on Rin. Even when they’d been friends growing up, she rarely got so much as a scrape on her knee. He was the one who was always running into things.

“So how about you, son?”

He blinks, eyes returning to the man’s face. He was pleasantly surprised by the correct gendering, but isn’t sure he likes being called ‘son’ by this guy.

“It’s Len.”

He smiles and gives a small nod. “Alexiel. Alex, to my friends.” 

“So, Len, what exactly brings you all the way out here?”

“We’re looking for a friend. We’re...Not sure where she is.” Alex hums thoughtfully at the statement.

“Is that so?”

“Yup.” Len absently reaches back, beginning the subconscious process of tying his hair back. “We usually go on a vacation together this time of year, and take turns picking the place. I got a message from her on my phone-she said the name of this town, but the reception was too bad to make anything else out. Since then, though, there hasn’t been any word from her. At first we didn’t think it was a big deal, but rin started to get worried after a few days. I was, too.” He frowns down at the wood graining on the table. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come here.”

Alex doesn’t say anything-he seems to be thinking. Len folds his hands on the table, and the minutes pass in silence. He’s about to go and see Rin again when Alex stands.

“I think a little tea will help you feel better. Don’t you?” It doesn’t seem to matter what Len thinks, because Alex is already pouring two mugs. He sets these down on the table, along with a little plastic bag. Len’s brows raise-it’s brioche.

“So, Rilly, how-”

“Len.”

“...Of course. I’m sorry. I’m getting old.” Alex smiles, and Len doesn’t feel better. It doesn’t seem to be very genuine.

“Rilly a friend of yours?” Now that Len can smell the brioche, he realizes he’s hungry. He tears off a small piece, placing it into his mouth.

“Rilliane. My twin. She’s far older than you are, but you look a little like her. Could be a distant relation.”

“Huh.” Len takes a sip of tea to be polite, and has to force back a grimace. Whatever herbs were used taste strong and bitter. “Do you think Rin will wake up soon?”

“There’s no way to be sure.” Alex doesn’t seem to mind strong tea, because he takes a long draw from his mug. “As I said, she was worse for wear. A wonder she could still walk.”

“She’s tough.” Len takes another piece of brioche. The warm drink and food give him some energy back. “If I headed out, could you look after her?”

Alex seems a little surprised at his trust. “Not very much to see out there, I’m afraid.”

He gives Len another smile and Len, for reasons he can’t quite name, doesn’t like it.

“I want to try looking for my friend. The sooner I find her, the sooner we can head out, so.” Len stands, and there’s still some pain in his hip when he does. Alex unnerves him for some reason, but if he had nefarious purposes, Len was sure he would’ve done something by now. Besides, both he and Rin had been given bandages, so the guy had some idea of medicine. Not to mention that Rin, herself, would need all the rest she could get. It would be best if he and Miku were there to greet her when she did wake up.

“Fair.” Alex gives him a small nod, standing up. “Don’t worry about you’re friend. She’ll be safe and sound here. But let me give you a few things to take along, alright?” Len could tell from his movements that old age was making it difficult for Alex to be moving around so much, but the older man still stoops down to lift up a backpack-one of the faded green canvas ones that makes him think of the army. He watches as Alex begins to place a few things inside-a flashlight, a bottle of water, a few power bars. “Just in case you’re gone for longer than you think. It never hurts to be prepared.”

Len smiles gratefully. He’s not one to refuse a gift when he sees one, and he takes the backpack. It’s lighter than expected when he slings it over his shoulders.

“Best of luck to you, Len. I really do mean that. You ought to leave a note for your friend before you go, though, just in case.”

“Sure.” Len scribbles one before heading to the door, only to be stopped by Alex’s hand on his shoulder.

“One more thing.” With that same odd smile, Alex nods to a corner near the door. Leaning against it is a metal baseball bat, rusted with age. The grip has faded over time, becoming unraveled.

The hand in his shoulder is staying for too long, and Len carefully shrugs it off.

“Can’t be too careful.” 

Len’s nerves tense. Cautiously, as though handling a firearm, he picks up the bat.

“....I guess not.”


	2. Chapter 2

The air is nippy outside, the chill of fall having crept its way through the desolate town and the fog eradicating any chance of clear sunlight-Len is already regretting his choice of clothing. He picked shorts, and though he does have a bright yellow jacket, it isn’t doing too much to shield him from the cold. At least there’s the bat, which Len is using more as a walking-stick than a weapon-it’s the right height to lean onto as he walks.

The asphalt is cracked beneath his feet, empty and ruined buildings scarcely visible through the fog. They stand like large, imposing gravestones above him, and as he approaches one, he hears a distant howling that makes him stop. It sounds like a dog, but as his grip tightens on the handle of his bat, Len can’t help but wonder what dog would sound quite that way. It’s too drawn out. Too much like it’s wailing. Though it sounds far away, Len feels some releif when it finally goes quiet.

The further he goes from the house, the more his thoughts turn to Rin, and he pauses to look back at the tiny place where Alexiel’s father lived. His worry isn’t very strong-Rin is a capable girl, always had been. Even if Alex did try anything, which Len doubted, Rin would put him right back in his place in seconds. She’d always been the one to stand up for him when they were kids.

Still. He wishes, again, that she was here.

But he’d be back soon.

Len starts walking again. Besides Rin, there was Miku to think of. The asphalt is solid beneath his shoes, but as he makes his way past the maze of abandoned buildings, Len hears the whining howl in the distance again. The fact that there’s so much fog makes it difficult to see, which doesn’t make Len feel much better. Still, he reasons to himself that the poor dog is probably lost or hurt-no reason to be scared of it.

The streets are still set up like a town would be, and it’s not long before he comes to an intersection-though the street signs are so eaten with rust, it’s anyone’s guess what the name would be. The fact that not a single person seems to be here aside from Alex is unsettling, Perhaps there was some kind of natural disaster, or the economy tanked. The way Alexiel had been talking, the whole town had basically packed up and left.

Either way, it’s quiet. There’s not a single noise aside from his footsteps and the sound of his breathing. Several times, he finds himself straining his ears for a hint of birdsong-even the scuffle of a rat or a squirrel. But there’s nothing.

Silent, indeed. Aside from that dog, maybe.

He takes a second to lift up the collar of his shirt, squinting down at his chest. The seatbelt bruise is a dark and mottled purple, but aside from the two parallel scars on his chest, there doesn’t seem to be any other damage. And those scars had been worth most of his college fund-no way would he ever resent them.

Len notes a few empty and deserted shops as he walks-there an old grocery store, which might be handy later, a restaurant with the sign have missing so it just says “Caf”, and a pharmacy. He pauses halfway down the intersection to try and get his bearings.

He has absolutely no idea where Miku would be, or why she would be here, or if she was even still here. Wandering aimlessly wasn’t really something he wanted to do, so he turns around to look back the way he came. He’d turned right once, so Alex’s home should still be easy enough to find. At any rate, it’s the only decent looking place here, so he’s sure he’d be able to find it again. When Len starts walking again, his footsteps and even the small clink the tip of his bat maked against the street seems distant and far away. It’s like the town itself is eating up noise.

Eating or not, though, he does hear something after a moment.

He freezes, listening hard, but the sound-whatever it was-doesn’t repeat.

“....What?” His own voice startles him.

Jesus, Rin would be laughing her ass off if she saw him jumping at shadows. Len shakes his head, squinting around through the fog. When he sees nothing, he continues walking, only to stop again when a high-pitched ringing sound pierces through his right ear.

“Shit!” Len winces, raising one hand to clamp it over his ear. The whining is incredibly shrill, setting his teeth on edge. It’s a minute before it passes. Must be an aftereffect of the car crash. As soon as it fades, however, he hears the same noise from before-only this time, it lasts for longer.

Is that...Scraping?

Shit. Guess there were rats after all.

Len grimaces and takes another step forward before a frantic waving gets his attention from the window of one of the deserted shops. Baffled, Len approaches.

“Hello?” It’s a moment before he gets close enough to see a glint of teal nail polish? “Miku? Miku, what the fuck is-”

As soon as he jogs over to the shop, though, his heart plummets down to his chest.

It’s a waving hand alright. And it’s potted, neat and orderly, in a small clay flower pot.

The arm is buried up to where the elbow should be, almost as if it’s growing out of the soil. The nails are painted the same teal as Miku’s hair color.

“....A….h...c-....c-c-...”

Incomprehensible stuttering chokes out of Len’s mouth as he grips the hilt of his bat, stumbling a step backwards. The hand begins slapping against the window with the palm, as if trying to escape. It then curls into a fist and starts pounding against the glass.

There’s a loud cracking noise as another hand, this one bearing blue nail polist, bursts straight out of the ground near his feet. A strangled scream leave him as he stumbles back, but another hand pops up closer to him.

This one has yellow nails, and it latches onto his ankle in a vice-like grip.

Len falls forward onto the ground, earning an elbow full of broken glass as he drags himself back to his feet.

He can still hear the hands pounding against the ground as he runs.

\------

_She stares at the paper on her desk, at the single red letter in a circle at the top right corner._

_B._

_It’s not high enough. It’s not nearly high enough._

_With a shaking hand and watering eyes, Rin stuffs the test as far back in her desk as she can reach._

_She’ll tell her mother that she lost it._

\------

It’s quiet when she wakes up, and her wrist is killing her-for a moment, it’s almost as if she’s hiding in her room again after having studied until her hand is killing her. But it’s not her fingers or the ridge of her thumb that hurt, and when she shifts a little, she wakes up immediately. 

“Sssssonofa-” The cuss word issues between clenched teeth. Was there any part of her body that didn’t hurt?  
She forces herself to sit up, and the world around her seems lopsided. Her left temple feels like someone is hitting it repeatedly. Subconsciously, Rin reaches up to adjust her bow, but it’s only the top of her hair that she encounters-the white cloth is sitting on the bedside table, and is quickly returned to its rightful place. Still, the aching permeates though her, and she doesn't really have a choice at this point but to assess the damage herself.

“How bad can it be?” she mumbles sarcastically, before lifting up the quilts.

...It’s pretty bad.

Her jeans are torn at the right knee, and spotted with blood. Her ankle looks bigger than it’s meant to be, and her arms are covered in bandages-plus her head is still killing her. Rin sighs, dejectedly, shutting her eyes for a moment.

_“Len?! Lenny, you better wake the fuck up right the fuck now!”_

_He isn’t moving, only hangs suspended by his seatbelt almost peacefully, as though he’s performing some trapeze art. Dimly, she remembers frantically that you shouldn’t move after a car wreck, but that seems to be a luxury neither of them have. After undoing her seatbelt, she hits the roof hard, and there’s a crunch in her wrist that’s more felt than heard. Her scream, though, is definitely heard. Len, though, is still breathing._

The memories are vivid, and Rin feels her chest tighten as they come rushing back. The nice old man-what was his name? Alexiel.

She remembered salvaging what she could out of the car-only her phone had survived, Len’s was cracked beyond repair-and manage to stumble her way out of the wreckage with him hoisted up on her back. Funny, usually it was him to give piggy-back rides. Walking on her twisted ankle had been actual hell-that part she remembers fully.

“Mr Alexiel?” She stands, slowly. One hand rests against her head as she slowly makes her way to the hall. Walking makes the dizziness worse, but she figures it’s going to be that way for a while. At least she wasn’t concussed.

The house around her is silent and deserted. The bedroom near hers is empty, and the hallway is bare. She opens another door to a spare room, bracing herself against the wall for support.

…...It’s full of guns.

Guns and knives, to be specific. Rin lets out a low whistle as she enters, picking up a handgun with some caution. She had something like this for the shooting range, after she’d picked it up as a hobby. Len had always teased her about preparing for the apocalypse or something. Well, who was laughing now?

She carefully slips the gun into a holster, wrapping the belt around her waist with the ammo stored safely in the opposite pouch. No need to load it if there was no need-there wasn’t anything that called for immediate action, and she didn’t want any accidents. After a moment’s consideration, she straps on one of the hunting knives, too. She doesn’t consider herself much of a weapon finatic but, fuck it, this was a wierd house in a very wierd town and she’d woken up alone.

A sudden whap against the window makes her jump, and the small fluttering clues her in. A poor little bird must have hit the window…

She hopes it’s alright, but knows better than to look and see for herself.

As Rin leaves the room and enters the living room, however, the thought strikes her again, and this time her stomach drops.

She’d woken up alone.

“Len?!” Only silence responds, an eerie quiet having drifted over the house. There are a few random items scattered about-some water bottles, bits of food. What draws her attention, however, are two notes, one of which is written in Len’s choppy handwiting. She unwraps a power bar and begins to eat while reasing.

Rin,

Went to search for Miku. I’ll only be gone a few hours, and I won’t go very far. I’ll come back and get you when I find her or someone here that knows her. Alex said you were hurt, so don’t push yourself trying to look for me.

Who am I kidding. When you come look for me, just don’t push yourself. If you don’t find me, just come back and I’ll meet you here.

See you soon,

Len.

“Sure. Wander around the creepy-ass town by yourself. Great going.” Rin scoffs before turning her attention to the second note. This one is written almost elegantly-so elegant, in fact, that it takes her a hot second or two to be able to make it out.

_Miss Kagamine,_

_I’m sorry I couldn’t be here when you awoke. I unfortunately had a few things to attend to out in town today. If you must venture out, you’ll find a hefty stash of weaponry just down the hall. Only take what you know how to use. They once belonged to my father._

_I’m hoping to clear some of the way for the two of you today, so here are my best wishes that you don’t run into anything unpleasant out there in the fog._

_Alexial_

_-I’ve had to lock the doors, I’m afraid. Can’t have just anything getting in._

Anything? Wouldn’t he mean anyone? Rin suppresses a shiver at the implication, but a quick inspection of the front door reveals it’s been locked from the outside, just as the note had said.

“What gives, Alex?” Rin mutters. However, her investigation into the way out is not as quick work as she might’ve hoped. The windows are all sealed, and she’s averse to the idea of breaking them open. The back door is locked as tightly as the front.

…..Maybe she should rethink her window-breaking policy.

She’s in the process of any last ditch attempts to avoid this when she notices one last door. It’s tucked away in the corner of the kitchen, small and narrow, and the room just behind it is pitch black and smells like musk. Her nose wrinkles.

After a quick stop to retrieve a flashlight, she re-enters and is greeted by probably the most surreal thing she’s ever seen in her life.

The entire room is decorated like something right out of a Marie Antionette documentary. The furniture gleams gold when she points the flashlight at it-a chandelier, coated in cobwebs, hangs glittering from the ceiling. The carpet and walls were once red, but have faded to pink, with the fluer-de-lis in a repeating pattern. Likewise with two ancient, cream-colored rugs on the floor, pattered with flowers.

What truly captures her attention, however, would be what look to be the taxidermied remains of a woman seated on the chair.

Her skin is leathery-looking, gold hair thin and faded and pulled into a proper bun. She’s wearing a heavy gold dress that looks like it’s been produced from the set of Mary, Queen of scots.

“....Sweet Jesus.” her flashlight is fixed in a wide beam, illuminating the dead woman. What the fuck was this Alex guy into? Did everyone just go around preserving their loved ones as decoration in this down?

Her flashlight lowers enough to illuminate a single piece of paper at the woman’s feet. The letter B is written in red ink on the top right corner. Hesitantly, Rin walks closer. The handwriting on the test looks familiar, but-

Why the hell would her second-grade math test be here?

Slowly, she raises her flashlight. The woman’s face is sunken, but even in this state, Rin decides that she must have been very pretty once. Alex has gone to great lengths to preserve her-they appear almost identical, now she thinks about it. Maybe they were siblings.

She freezes.

….Did the woman just fucking breathe?

Rin stares, petrified, into her face, and a pair of glassy blue eyes open. She scrambles back and away, falling over and dropping her flashlight in her haste. In the darkness, the scent of mold and dust intensifies, and a series of cracking and popping inform Rin that her unwanted guest has achieved sentience.

A wheezing, high-pitched cackle only cements it.

Rin rips the knife out of its scabbard, and it’s only panic fueling her as she slashes outward, moving blind. She hears a ripping sound and feels the serrated edge catch fabric, but as her knuckles collide with the woman’s head, there’s no resistance as her head topples down and rolls into the beam of her deserted flashlight.

She keeps stabbing downward, breathing frantically, until the thing stops moving, but she can swear the woman keeps laughing the whole time.

Her breathing is still heavy as, trembling, she lifts the flashlight. The headless lady is lying on the floor, her right hand glenched into a fist. Something metal glints between her knuckles. Rin grimaces, but forces herself to kneel and crack back each finger to find a key.

“....Thank you very _fucking_ much.” she manages.

A quiet thump from outside is all she needs to scramble out of the room, unlock the front door, and step out into the fog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's play count the song references

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where I'm going with this.


End file.
